Saturday, October 27, 2012

3 teams went into the weekend games with a shot at the title thanks to Albirex 4-3 win over Tampines Rovers 3 days.

In the end, only one, DPMM Brunei, came out of it still with a shot There was always going to be a team who will drop out as DPMM were squaring off against Home at Hassanal Bolkiah National.

It was a match neither can lose for this meant the end of their season as a whole. The door was open to them but who can take advantage as they have to win this encounter and a draw will do neither good.

So both came to attack and it was the visitors, Home United, who showed the deadly touch as they went 2-0 up within half-time thanks to Shi JiaYi and Frederic Mendy.

After the break, it was another story as Shahrazen Said, Patrick Da Silva and Adi Said gave DPMM the lead and if a coach was judged by the brave decision he make then Croatian coach Vjeran Simunic showcased it.

He took off his top scorer and scorer of the first DPMM goal, Shahrazen Said, to make way for Adi Said and the substitute repay the faith of the coach as he was the one who got the winning goal.

With that, Home United title challenge was over and soon to follow was Harimau Muda.

The Malaysian side saw their challenge ended by Gombak United, the bogey side of title challengers.

The Bulls had stalled DPMM Brunei challenge earlier in the month and then did it against Tampines Rovers in their last match and now it was the turn of Muda.

This time, it was costly as the Malaysian side title challenge was gone as they went down 1-2.

Zulfadhli Emran and Jung Hee Bong got the goals for the Bulls while Wan Zack Haikal reply for the Malaysians.

In another match, Hougang drew 2-2 with SAFFC.

Jordan Webb and Azhar Sairudin got the goals for Hougang while Mislav Karoglan and Shimpei Sakurada reply for the Warriors.

Champions Tampines Rovers failed to close up the title race as they were held to a draw by Gombak.

This mean Tampines have to beat Albirex in 4 days time to end all talks about any challenge on the title.

It should not have been the case as Sead Hadzibulic gave the Stags the lead in the first half but the Eastern giant was unable to close the game. They pay for it as Bulls pull back on level towards the end through ex Eagles Hafiz Rahim.

It gave DPMM an opening as the Brunei side climb up to second.

DPMM have a game in hand and are 7 points behind the defending champions. Win their game in hand and it is only 4 while the top 2 clashed in their next meeting and any result other than a win for Tampines will benefit DPMM.

The Brunei side thrash Tanjong Pagar 3-0 with goals from Shahrazen Said and Ivan Jerkovic (2)

Friday, October 26, 2012

The 2012 title look like it is heading back East to Tampines again as the Champions won their match against Courts Young Lions while Albirex Niigata (S) lost both their games against Balestier Khalsa and Hougang United.

With these results, Tampines have open up a eight-point gap with a game in hand.

The first good news came when Balestier Khalsa beat Albirex Niigata (S) 1-0 thanks to a goal from Kim Minho.

It meant the champions could open up their lead further with a win against the Cubs and they achieved that with ease as they won 3-0 at Jalan Besar.

Regular marksman Aleksandar Duric was the hero with a brace with another coming from Ahmad Latiff.

Then 3 days after their loss to Balestier, Albirex lost their second match in succession despite a brace by Yamakoshi Yasuhiro.

The Hougang had knocked in 3 times after the opener by Albirex thanks to Mamadou Diallo, Sobrie Mazelan and Jordan Webb.

Even with Albirex next match scheduled to be against Tampines; in which they have to win, the title race is out of their hands due to the results of the last few days.

In other matches , Hougang drew 0-0 with Gombak and SAFFC also drew 0-0 with Balestier Khalsa.

Goal website has reveal SAFFC coach Richard Bok will be stepping down and his assistant, former Singapore national player, V. Selveraj will be taking over.

SAFFC chairman Lam Shiu Tong said that the players have been informed of the developments, and that both them and the management are looking forward to having a close working relationship with Selvaraj in the 2013 S-League campaign.

As for Richard Bok, he hinted at the possibility of moving abroad according to GOAL.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Quite frankly, I have no view on it as I cannot tell if the plans will work or out for I noted many times before; all plans have pros and cons so nobody can claim with any certainty their plans will run 100% smoothly at all time.

More importantly, for me, the plans are not the problem, it is the system that currently just parachute a person to the top.

My view has not changed since that POV article two years ago and at this point, Singapore football need a FAS president for the long term ever more for in that link, I already know revamp after revamp will not work and it only result in frustration for all around as sponsors Courts and Blogger Pohui have voiced it out.

And two years down the road, I see another terrible effect thanks to a FAS president who stay for just 4 years.

Indeed, with much problems still plaguing Singapore football at the grassroots level in the S-league, the turth is our current FAS President is about to walk away from it all without much harm to his career at all.

The best part for the current FAS President, he will be coming out smelling of roses as let not beat around the bush, the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) media will be singing his praises when he depart next year telling us of the 'great achievements' of the past 4 years.

All failures (if SPH do list them as there are many) will be directed to the orgainisation; meaning Football Association of Singapore (FAS) and in no way was it FAS president fault.

Yet the question is should not the organisation (FAS) be him and him the organisation as he was it leader for the past 4 years.

So we can see the biggest flaw of the current system; it neither reward good leadership nor punish bad one.

The fact is other than a longer term for FAS president, we also need one who is linked to it (By it, I mean Singapore football) fall and rise.

And it does not mean it must be a sport personality or not; for many sport organisations are not led by them.

The best example is everybody favourite league Braclay Premier League (BPL); whose head is a former newsman Richard Scudamore.

When he took over BPL, it was still not top of the pack yet and a product everybody must have for other major European leagues have their own market as well.

However, he understood the trend and in an age when then-German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder told the world Bundesliga will play on Sunday over his dead body, the BPL introduced 12 pm UK time games to attract the Asian audience.

No other European Leagues make as much efforts as BPL did and looked at the results today in which it lead the other major European Leagues by a huge margin in the money stake and they are now playing catch-up with Serie A and La Liga all playing games that are suited for Asia since last season.

Richard Scudamore career is linked to his product (BPL) and if he had fail to grow it as brilliantly as the past decade, he will be out of a job.

So it is clear longevity is just one of the factor for the post and we need a new system in which Singapore football and the S-league has a President who rise and fall with it as well and not just walk away every 4 years no matter what.

For in a bid to prevent a Loh Lin Kok (Singapore Athletic Association former President), we created a Zaindiun Nordin which is far worse.

Home United coach Paul Lee has announced John Wilkinson has no future in Home United after the both of them had a falling out.

Despite the end result which saw a 7-3 thrashing of Geylang United, it seem John Wilkinson did not take kindly to being substituted before half-time especially as the Protectors had just equalised.

Paul Lee believed Wilkinson was not following his instruction and decided to take him off as punishment.

The 33-year-old did not take kindly to that move and let his coach know of it as he walk off.

The Home United coach have decided he will not tolerate the former international anymore as it was not their first clash.

And the Korean has put the blame squarely on the midfielder as he revealed Wilkinson has not shown him respect right from their first encounter in training in January and since then, he has continue to show that kind of attitude with him and showing no desire to play for Paul Lee.

John Wilkinson is the third Home United player to fall out with the Korean in the last 3 year with the others being Brazilian Peres and defender Shariff Abdul Samat.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

I think this is a good idea as I never know why the Malaysian side is based in Yishun for what in the first place and they should have played their home game in Malaysia from the start.

Afterall Brunei DPMM are based in their home back on Borneo Island.

This is a good move in the right direction.

Next though, I have to ask if S-league will then have to continue to pay full subsidises to Muda as 1) they will be playing their home games in Malaysia 2) They may be sending a different team next season from what they promised.

Ismadi Mukhtar, Fahrudin Mustafic and Jamil Ali got the goals for the Stags with Thamil Arasu and Syahrul Azwari replying for the Malaysians.

In other matches, Tanjong Pagar United continue their good form as they won their match in a row as they beat Woodlands Wellington 1-0, Albirex Niigata (S) hit Gombak United with the same score and Home United beat Courts Young Lions 3-1.

French import Serge Souchon notch the winner for the Jaguars in the matchup against the Rams.

As for the White Swans- Bulls match up, it was Soya Toshikazu who got the winner.

For the Protectors-Cubs clash, it was the goals of Firdaus Idros and Frederic Mendy (2) which ensure all 3 points for the home side.